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Petr Cech or David Ospina: Should Arsenal sign the Chelsea number two?

We decided to compare the two goalkeepers to see if the Gunners should make a move for the Chelsea man.

Petr Cech lost his status as Chelsea number one to Thibaut Courtois at the start of the season, and has since struggled to re-establish himself.

The young Belgian has impressed in his first season in England after spending several seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid, where he gained vital experience and playing time.

Since losing his place in the side, Cech has been linked with a number of top clubs around the world; such is his prominence after years of top quality service to Chelsea in the Premier League.

One of those clubs are Chelsea’s domestic rivals Arsenal, whothe Daily Mail claim could have up to £50 million to spend in the summer, and would make Cech one of their top targets in the process.

In truth, Arsenal have been lacking a solid and reliable number one for years and the move would make sense, although whether Chelsea would sell is another matter entirely. We decided to compare Cech with current number one David Ospina to see if the move would make sense for the Gunners.

First and foremost, goalkeepers are there to keep clean sheets, and in that regard Cech comes out on top, managing to not concede a single goal in the league this year, while Ospina has conceded five.

Elsewhere, Cech also comes out on top in the cross not claimed category, having claimed all deliveries he has gone for, although Ospina is only behind by one in this regard. In fact, the Colombian then comes out of top of the veteran keeper in all other areas.

He has more saves than Cech, 24 to eight, while his goal kicks are far superior as well. He has also proved to be a better sweeper keeper than the Chelsea man, while his number of good high claims also vastly outranks the Czech stopper.

As the stats show then, it seems Arsenal might already have a perfect number one in David Ospina and might be better off spending their money and their attention on other areas of the team. For now though, the focus will be entirely on Champions League qualification.

Sean Lunt

Sean Lunt is a Journalism and Spanish graduate with a passion for football. As an avid Everton fan he has survived the Walter Smith era, enjoyed the resurgence under David Moyes and is now wholly embracing the Spanish revolution with Roberto Martinez. Away from Everton he follows the rest of the football league and has a particular interest in La Liga.